Intro (00:00):

Welcome to The Taylor Ten. A fast-paced, 10 minute deep dive into the minds of those shaking up the marketing world, bringing you the sharpest insights, boldest ideas and breakthrough trends driving the industry forward. So tune in, get inspired, and stay ahead.

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Maeve (00:18):

Hi, I'm Maeve Hagen and welcome to The Taylor Ten. I'm here with Samantha Roth, VP of Communications at the National Football League to learn as much as I can about the NFL's aim to be a year-round brand in only 10 minutes. Sam, thank you so much for being with me today. I love when I can connect with old friends and former colleagues. So let's explore how the league has evolved into having a 365 day media and cultural presence and really what that means for comms planning. So with the NFL now dominating headlines beyond just game days, how has your role specifically shifted to meet that very exciting demand?

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Samantha (00:59):

So we definitely are working hard to transform ourselves into a year-round media, but also a cultural force. And that is something that obviously expands our scope of communications. So what that looks like is not only managing now, the day-to-day immediate game day narratives, real-time crisis, which there are many, but we are crafting ongoing stories to keep our fans engaged and connected every day through the year 365, not just during football season. And as I'm sure you all know very well, it is a very fragmented media landscape these days. So we really need to work to adapt. We've leaned into partnerships, we've leaned into work with influencers and creators to stay ahead of these trends. So we are seeing a major shift in how we operate day to day, especially from shifting from reactive communications to proactive. And I have a few examples for you to tell you what that looks like.

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(01:57):

From our end, I think traditionally we have very much been a more reactive brand and I think that we're leaning into areas. For example, the schedule release. We have made something that has always happened and always been released into a content event. And so instead of simply announcing the season schedule, we transformed it into this anticipated media moment. Teams are producing really cool, funny, creative content. I'm sure you guys have seen all over social. Absolutely. Fans are engaging nonstop for, they're engaging for entertainment and for information, but this proactive content allows us to drive these touch points and lean into these massive online engagements. So it's rivaling sometimes some of the in-season buzz that we're seeing, which is incredible. Obviously the gift that keeps on giving is the Taylor Swift celebrity storyline, which I'm sure you have no idea what I'm talking about,

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(02:53):

But we for this one, did not wait to really respond to fan and media interest around Taylor attending the Chiefs games. We really embraced it for the cultural moment that it was one of the first times we leaned into something that was happening to us and really took control. So we thought about thoughtful social coverage, how do we tie in other influencers broadcast highlights to give us this pop culture moment, which quite honestly we're still seeing. And then the last is really, I mentioned earlier the creative collaboration. So we work tons with influencers and creators during off season to produce content. We are working a lot in the fashion forward player spotlight realm. We have a new NFL fashion editor, which we've never had before. We're working with TikTok Challengers and challenges for wellness content. So we're definitely taking a very different proactive approach for Gen Z cultures well beyond broadcast. So it is definitely a holistic approach.

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Maeve (03:52):

Is there anything that you guys are looking at as some of those exciting opportunities for the league to tap into that maybe you haven't yet? So you mentioned a fashion writer, something like New York Fashion Week on the docket now as an opportunity or a place where the league might entertain showing up or something else.

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Samantha (04:11):

Fashion is extremely potent on our radar. We have something called that the marketing team very much drives called the Helmets Off strategy because football is one of the sports that the players are behind their helmets. We feel the world doesn't get to see them in the same light that other sports get to lend to their players who are on the field without the helmets. So we dig very deep in terms of what the player's passions are, they're cultural moments that matter to them, whether it's where they came from and all the different components that make someone who they are. So fashion is one of those pillars that we're seeing the players really, really interested in. We have, as I mentioned, the fashion editor who actually styles a fair amount of our players and we have had presence at Fashion Weeks and we're leaning into the art scene with Art Basel and others.

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(05:01):

So that's definitely something that I think fans will see a lot more of in the coming seasons and us engaging a lot more. I think something that's interesting that we have done is, and hopefully this is more visible, but Draft Week, we've totally transformed that. It's not just about team picks anymore. We now use that as a completely different platform to really tell these very deep engaging personal stories about these athletes' journeys. And most of these players obviously are coming from the college side, so the world hasn't seen them in the same light as they do some of our NFL players. And we have done some really proactive storytelling with that packages, documentaries behind the scenes social content, which has been, we've seen such an amazing reaction to. So we're definitely trying to get creative. We lean into partnerships as well, which has been a big piece of something that we've done. And I will just say halftime for instance, Super Bowl halftime, we collaborate with Roc Nation and they have really elevated our shows into these major cultural moments that we are just thrilled to be able to promote and work with. But they also are generating these global conversations about entertainment, music, fashion, social media, and it's keeping us at the core of all of those conversations, which is, that's a goal.

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Maeve (06:22):

What does it look like as it relates to planned moments versus opportunistic ones? So something like the Draft or Draft Week or the schedule release obviously is a planned tint pole planned moment in time, Super Bowl planned moment in time. How much effort is the team putting into those sort of season long opportunistic moments that might be happening within a blink of an eye that you have to jump on or to either mitigate or to further support and throw a little gasoline on that fire?

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Samantha (06:57):

Honestly, the same amount that we're putting into the tentpoles, which obviously makes it that we are just always on because we of course have the planned tentpole moments. I mean all the announcements, but Super Bowl, Combine, Draft, Pro Bowl kickoff, and then you have the moments, exactly like you said that pop up out of nowhere. We have the announcements that we have planned, but it's not as consistent in terms of timing. Like the Super Bowl halftime artist announcement. There's always something to lean into and think about, but we put the same amount of planning and the same amount of effort and strategic thought behind things that pop up that we have to execute in the next four days as opposed to the fact that we're planning five years out for Super Bowl. So communications around all of these moments are highly orchestrated. I mean they involve multi-platform campaigns, tons of exclusive content, strategic partnerships. I mean that's how we amplify and also get anticipation. I mean we are the National Football League. We know people are excited about the product and the content, but that does not mean we ever take our foot off the gas in terms of making sure that we are reaching tons of new demographics, audiences while maintaining those that have followed football for a hundred plus years. Last

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Maeve (08:12):

Question, is there a particular month or a moment in the off season that always surprises you with its fan engagement levels? Are you ever like, there's no way that this is going to play, but let's test and learn, let's see what happens and then it blows you away every single time?

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Samantha (08:30):

Yes, actually, and I mentioned it earlier, but it has to be repeated and it's honestly it's Draft especially in April that month leading up to Draft. I mean the season is done, Super Bowl has draft, we're looking towards the off season and of course there are amazing moments in the off season and in the summer like training camp and back together weekend, which we see great engagement around because people are just so genuinely excited for football to be back. But one of the most rewarding moments in the off season and quite frankly in the whole season is the lead up to draft games aren't being played. So fan engagement, we never really know, well it spike, but it spikes so dramatically as people begin to really immerse themselves in the player stories that I mentioned, the team strategies, predictions, people get very into it and it's really nice to see really how essential it is for people, us to stay connected with our fans through this kind of storytelling and just the pure excitement for what draft is. It's so hopeful and optimistic. It gives everyone such a wonderful kind of wind down from the season and leading into off season. And then it's incredible to see some of those players come out just a few months later on the field and you were like, I was part of that journey.

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Maeve (09:48):

Well Sam, thank you very much for taking some time out of your very busy schedule. Good luck with the upcoming season. I know you guys will crush. Stay tuned for more Taylor Tens to come. 

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Samantha (9:58)

Thank you Maeve. Thanks everyone.

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